Tempest (SoulSeries, Book 1)
By SoulcatcherOfTheNightWings. Not yet completed. Prologue Midnight looked at Fatecatcher lovingly. They were all alone in the park, all by themselves. A great place to be with a loved one at night. However, Midnight's dear Fate looked agitated. She opened her mouth to speak, but Midnight had to interrupt. The news he was giving was too important to be ignored, after all. "My dear, sweet Fate," Midnight said. "I, Midnightwatcher... " Oh, how should he word it? Ugh. "Um," Fate said. She chose to be blunt. "I'm with egg." The news hit Midnight as hard as a SkyWing ramming into him, full speed. With egg? ''he thought. "Well, I was planning for us to get married," Midnight pondered out loud. "But -" Fatecatcher crooned, "Oh, I'm sure that our dragonet will be lovely. Perhaps even an animus... they say that I came from an animus bloodline." "Why, yes," Midnight replied. He wasn't about to disagree with his dear Fate. ... The dragonet was perfect. When she hatched, she was but a tiny, helpless NightWing. Sure, she had no moonborn powers, but why need those? Midnight decided to name her Soulcatcher, after her mother. The dear NightWing couple, Midnightwatcher and Fatecatcher, were happily married. They were perfect soul mates - they just had to be. And they would live until they were old and pass away peacefully in their sleep. ... Soulcatcher watched Father cry and heave. She had no idea what was going on, but he seemed really sad. She wanted to comfort him. "Don't leave, love," he sobbed. "Don't leave me here, my dear Fate." At the time Soulcatcher couldn't yet understand, but could tell that he was filled with grief, pain, and longing. For someone - Mother. His sadness radiated across the room in shades of gray and black. "We'll meet..." A hoarse, quiet voice came from the bed. It was Mother, yet not Mother. "We'll meet again." The weird blue dragon looked at the bed, and said, "I'm afraid that she is dying from the plague. It's too late; she only has a few minutes left. I've done all that I can." Mother said, in a voice getting harder to hear with each word, "Just... take care of Soulcatcher, will you?... Please... make sure that she's safe..." "Of course," Father whispered. "I won't ever let you down. Not ever." "We'll meet again," Mother said. "I promise..." And then she was quiet. Mother said no more. Father howled; he cried out for Mother to come back; he trembled. He cried out about how cruel Fate was. Soulcatcher didn't understand. The weird blue dragon scooped Soulcatcher up in his large blue talons. "Come on," he rumbled. And he carried Soulcatcher away from Father, from Mother. She squealed in protest and tried to wriggle free, but the big blue talons clutched her tightly... Chapter 1 Soulcatcher was sitting in the living room, playing with several small wooden cubes. Her father had left, but now Soulcatcher was used to it. He would always leave a big stash of dried meats somewhere that was easy to locate. Thunder rumbled outside. It was raining outside, hard. There were several candles here and there, illuminating the room with a warm orange glow. Soulcatcher reached for a block, and placed it on top of another. She was trying to stack them all up, to form a tower. Suddenly Soulcatcher heard a thump. ''What was that? ''she wondered. Her ears flicked out, straining to catch a noise. After a while, she didn't hear anything. Soulcatcher shrugged and reached for another- ''Thumpthumpthump. ''At the front door. There was something at the front door. Was it Soulcatcher's father? She turned and strolled over to the door. She was three - old enough to be able to walk, and fly a bit, and talk. Soulcatcher reached for the handle. She had to stand on her hind legs to reach the lock. Using her tail for balance, she undid the lock, grabbed the handle, and swung open the door. Soulcatcher blinked at the odd newcomer. The dragon standing in the doorway was way too small to be her father, and looked too different. Her father had black scales, and this one's scales were dark purple. His belly was a slightly lighter purple, and where his scales and belly met, there was a vibrant line of blue scales. His eyes were also blue, but of a different shade. Oh, and he just had a different... body structure. Soulcatcher couldn't tell what his tribe was. And by the way, he was sopping wet. "Help," he chirped. "What happened?" Soulcatcher asked. "They... they said me had to leave," said the dragonet. He trembled. "Because... " He twisted around to point at a small tear on his right wing. "Well, come on in," Soulcatcher said. "Hold on." She turned and made a beeline for the storage closet. The dragonet entered. He stepped onto the welcome mat, and water dripped from him, soaking the mat. Soulcatcher grabbed a white towel and hurried over to the wet dragonet. She wrapped the towel around him. As Soulcatcher herded the strange dragonet into the living room, she pondered over who the dragonet's parents were, and how Midnightwatcher might react. "What's your name?" Soulcatcher inquired. The dragonet responded, "Me Stormstrike. You can call me Storm." Soulcatcher nodded. She rubbed Storm with the towel. When he was finally dried, he yawned and curled up on the wooden floor. Within minutes his chest rose and fell peacefully. The scene was so peaceful that Soulcatcher wished to stay in this moment forever... except that she couldn't. ... When Midnightwatcher returned home a couple hours later, he was more surprised than angry, or so it seemed to Soulcatcher. He noticed the dragonet curled up on the floor. "What's a dragonet doing here?" Soulcatcher said, "He said that he had to leave or something. And the storm outside - I just had to give him shelter." At the sound of the word ''storm, ''Stormstrike stirred in his sleep. "Storm... one coming tomorrow. Maybe." Father nodded. "Alright, we'll keep him for a while. And if no one shows up to take him, we'll have to adopt him. I know very little about TempestWings, you know." Soulcatcher wondered what a TempestWing was. ''Perhaps one of the weird tribes out there, ''she thought. "All right," she agreed. Chapter 2 Stormstrike grew up fast, and learned quickly. Midnightwatcher home-schooled them, so they never went to school. However, no one came to pick him up, so Midnight decided to adopt him. Meanwhile, Soulcatcher learned a lot about Stormstrike the TempestWing. She learned that he sometimes curled up on the earth outside for no particular reason, and that he liked freshly killed prey. If Storm wasn't allowed to "recharge", as he liked to call it, he would get really cranky. So Midnight let him head out and lay in the dirt every once in a while. Midnightwatcher told the two dragonets all he knew about TempestWings. It turned out that he knew very little about them - they lived on the "wingtip" of Pyrrhia and liked fighting and such, but not much else. Sometimes Stormstrike would say something that wasn't in draconic. He said that the language was known as Runic and that all TempestWings spoke it. He tried to teach Soulcatcher some Runic, and Soulcatcher was learning quite quickly. Occasionally they would converse in Runic. Everything was going on perfectly fine in their little universe. Then Jararaca came. Out of nowhere, a strange dragon appeared. Apparently she was one of Midnight's colleagues or something. She looked like a SandWing except for a RainWing frill that reflected her mood, and a longer, curlier tail that ended with no tail barb. When Jararaca first came, her frill was a nice blue color. Now it was orange and emerald green as she eyed Soulcatcher and Stormstrike disapprovingly. What had they done wrong? Perhaps it was because of the fact that Storm wasn't "recharging" and was chatting to Soulcatcher about the wonders of TempestWings in Runic. There was no way that Jararaca could understand Runic. Soulcatcher leaned in to whisper, "Draconic, please," in Runic. Here Jararaca's frill turned a bright orangey-purple. Storm blinked at Soulcatcher in surprise. "What do you mean?" he said in the same language. "Haven't you noticed the dragon over there?" Soulcatcher hissed in draconic, glancing at Jararaca. "Say something that she would understand." Storm nodded and spoke, in draconic, "Well, alright. What else about TempestWings?" He paused, thinking. Jararaca's frill turned into shades of yellow and lavender. Soulcatcher was pretty sure that yellow was good - amused? Was that what it meant? She didn't know much about RainWings, however, and neither did Stormstrike. ... Storm flew out, ready for a game of tag. "You're prepared, right?" Soulcatcher hollered at him. "Yes," Storm called back. "Alright, then." Soulcatcher covered her eyes with her talons. "Twenty, nineteen..." Stormstrike flew from Soulcatcher as fast as he could. His wings burned with the effort, but he loved the rush of adrenaline that came whenever he did something as intense as this. Storm turned back to look at his home for the past couple of months. It looked like a tiny hut now. It was built on solid earth, but about a hundred meters down, the green grass gave way to pale yellow sand, and then ocean waves. He sped over the open ocean, the wind howling past his face. And then - Soulcatcher was suddenly right next to him. It made no sense; there was no way that she could fly that fast. Soulcatcher flared open her wings and slowed to a stop. "Ahh!" she cried. "What... how... " Storm asked. Soulcatcher shook her head, as if there was something in there that she wanted to get rid of. "Don't tell Midnight, got it? No word of this to Midnight. Because... " She took a deep breath. "I'm an animus, as it turns out. I just thought about how I wanted to be right next to you. I thought it at a rock for some reason, and then... well, you know." Stormstrike nodded. He had heard tales about animus dragons; they cast too many spells, and they went insane. "Alright," he said. Then they heard a shriek - from Jararaca, without doubt: "Come here, Midnight wants you two." ... Thank goodness, Midnight was only asking the dragonets where he should go next. At first he considered the TrickWings or DeathWings, but those two were NightWing-hostile, so the group decided against it. The SwiftWings and AviWings were having their own issues, and interfering with them was out. The MistWings and DriftWings were okay. They were NightWing-neutral, and Midnight could check them out, although their kingdoms were rather far. He would have to leave for a month or longer. And as a final thought, Midnightwatcher said, "And, Jararaca, I'll entrust you with my dragonets." Chapter 3 "Uh-oh," Soulcatcher whispered to Storm in Runic. She wondered what it would be like. She had never lived without her father for more than a couple of days at a time. But a ''month? A couple days later, Midnightwatcher had packed up all his things and was ready to go. "And I'll leave now. See you in at least a month," Soulcatcher's father called out cheerfully to the dragonets. Soulcatcher watched her father go. Bye, ''she thought sadly. ... Actually, being with Jararaca wasn't that bad. She was similar to Soulcatcher's father, but a bit more gruff. She still had the same burning passion for science. Time flew by. Eventually Father came back, and he had a ton of notes about DriftWings and MistWings. When he came back, he started yammering on about trading between Drifts and Mists, but Soulcatcher tackled Midnightwatcher and hugged him fiercely. After the family reunion Jararaca became part of their family. There was a special bond between the dragons, as strong as the MidWing sibling bond. Other colleagues came and went, but there was never much of a connection between the colleagues and the family. ... Stormstrike curled up to sleep on his furs, but the moment he closed his eyes, the nightmare came crashing in. ''Storm's parents scowled at him disapprovingly. He had gotten into a large fight with one of the bullies, and he was bruised. He also got a nick in one of his wings. "Out," hissed Storm's father. "I never want to see you again. Letting yourself be beaten up by another dragon!" "You have destroyed our family legacy," said Storm's mother, sneering. "Leave. Never come back." And so Stormstrike left. He didn't have any belongings at the time, so he just flew away. '' ''After a while, Storm stopped in a small cave to rest. He looked in it to make sure that no wild predators lived in the cave, before curling up inside. And then he started to cry. His heart felt like lead, weighing him down with emotion. But after a while he stopped, because he knew he couldn't stay a yowling, crying dragonet forever. He had to move on... Suddenly Stormstrike woke up, and realization dawned on him. If he had to grow up, he had to leave. He had to confront his parents. And it had to be before five years, otherwise he might have to take the Sunset Trial, a deadly ritual. Dragons who came back from the Sunset Trial alive had gone completely insane. Storm had to hurry. But he had to choose the perfect time to do it... Chapter 4 Several months later... "He's gone!" Soulcatcher cried out, flinging aside her father's furs. "Let me sleep, dear daughter," Midnight grumbled. "Sleep is good for your body. Without it - " "STORMSTRIKE IS GONE!" Soulcatcher shrieked, refusing to let Midnightwatcher sleep. "GONE! WHERE DID HE GO!?" Suddenly Midnightwatcher was sitting upright. All the sleepiness had suddenly abandoned him. "Gone!? Where to!?" "I HAVE NO IDEA. THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING YOU." Midnight shook his head. "I don't know either. Perhaps he went out to recharge." Soulcatcher continued to yowl. "NO, HE DIDN'T! I WENT OUT TO CHECK AND I DIDN'T SEE HIM." "Maybe he was in the back," Midnight suggested. "EXCEPT THAT I SCOURED THE PERIMETER OF THE HOUSE AND FOUND NOTHING!" Soulcatcher hollered. "Then we'll have to find him," Midnightwatcher said grimly, "because something might happen to him." ... Stormstrike was flying as fast as possible toward TempestWing territory. His wings were starting to tire. He had never flown such a distance in a long time. His heart tore at him. He had never done this before. To abandon his family... But he ''had ''to do this. He flew down for a break. He was currently in DeathWing territory. He was probably being watched by DeathWings right now. According to a scroll that Storm read, DeathWings didn't trust the TempestWings, but the two tribes had a trading agreement. Storm had to keep his guard up. ... Midnightwatcher glided in the air, sweeping his head from side to side, searching. He circled the the house, and flew to the east, looking for Stormstrike, but found nothing. "He must have left a lot earlier than we thought," Midnight later told his daughter, "or he's been flying really fast. Maybe both." Soulcatcher started to worry. She had to hope that the worst didn't already happen... ... Suddenly, several DeathWings stepped in front of Stormstrike. "Too late to escape now," the DeathWing in the front snarled. He held a spear that was pointed right at Storm's heart. "Try to run or fight, and you're dead." More DeathWings filed in, creating a circle around Storm. More DeathWings flew overhead, blocking any chance that Storm had of escaping. He was trapped. ... "Hurry!" Soulcatcher said. "Every second that passes..." She couldn't bear the thought of the dragon that had seemed like a brother to her had died. Jararaca had flown on to the south, to alert some colleagues to the dire situation. Soulcatcher's father had flown toward the Sky Kingdom, but around DeathWing territory. And all Soulcatcher could do was wait and hope... Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Fanfictions Category:Content (SoulcatcherOfTheNightWings) Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)